Rock Gym renovations to begin on May 27

Cassville R-4 School District budgeting $175,000 for repairs

Four months after a water main burst, flooding portions of the Rock Gym building, the Cassville R-4 School District is planning to begin its renovations and repairs.

Richard Asbill, superintendent of Cassville Schools, said the renovation and repair process will begin this month, and has been separated into four parts.

Part one, the largest piece, will encompass the replacing of the gym floor, using insurance money from when the incident occurred. That project is out for bids, and a final cost has yet to be determined.

Part two will include the renovation and repair of the board room area, including extending the area an extra five feet into the gym to allow more space for meetings and events.

Part three will be the repair of the central office, including repairing or replacing flooring, ceiling tile, carpeting, technology and electric issues.

The final part of the renovations and repairs will be in the gym, where the district plans to repoint the walls, repair the bleachers and make the gym more energy-efficient by replacing the windows and adding an air-conditioning system.

"Some of the Rock Gym work is in our bond plans, and we have to look at our priorities list and weigh those against our capital improvement plans," Asbill said. "If we can fit them into our bond plans, we will."

Asbill said in total, with some projects likely to be handled by in-house maintenance staff and other projects to be bid out, the district has budgeted about $175,000 for all the repairs, including upgrades to the gym area.

Asbill said much of that cost will be picked up by insurance coverage, but items like moving the board room wall five feet and adding air conditioning to the gym will have to be paid out of the capital improvements fund. He said moving the board room back will cost about $15,000, and air conditioning for the gym will run from $5,000 to $10,000 depending on how much extra duct work is required.

"If we can add air conditioning to the gym, we will try it, but that's last on our list," he said. "If we did, it would make it a more useful space for the students and for the community year-round. During the summer months, it is too hot in there for us to let the students use it."

For about a month while the work takes place, Asbill said the central office will be moved to two middle school classrooms. The move will occur on May 27, after school is out and teachers have removed all their items and furniture.

"It's looking to be about a 30-day project, so we hope to be back in the Rock Gym by the first of July," he said. "The phone numbers, email and everything else will stay the same, we'll just be in a different location, and we'll have a sign up rerouting people to the temporary office."